Cougar Notes (7/12/13)
I hope that this summer edition of Cougar Notes finds you
enjoying a great summer. Even though we have had a longer summer than
normal, it is going by very quickly. The beginning of our new school year
is right around the corner, so I wanted to send you this summer update. I
will be sending more detailed information as the start of school
approaches. I hope that you enjoy the rest of your summer!
Personnel:
I would like for everyone to continue to remember Ellen
Thomas’ husband Mike. He had surgery yesterday for a brain tumor.
The doctors have also told Ellen that he has lung cancer. They have
stated that the cancer is at stage 4. Please keep the Thomas family in
your prayers.
We have had several GCMS staff members to have surgeries
this summer, and I am not going to try to name them all for fear of leaving
someone off. I hope that everyone is able to recuperate and feel great by
the time school starts in August.
We are very happy to have some new staff members joining us
this year! We have hired two new language arts teachers, Tori Banks in
Team 7 and Hannah Embry in Team 6. Both of these young ladies will be in
her first year of teaching, and I am confident that they are going to be great
additions to our staff. Also, we are glad to have Bridget Haycraft back
on our staff as a one-on-one aide with an incoming 6th grader.
Contrary to popular rumors, Mr. Blain was not hired to drive
the Schwan’s truck. I am happy to be starting my 7th year as
GCMS principal. I am very thankful for the great job that I have and the
wonderful staff and students that I have to work with each day!
Lions and Tigers and Bears………no just Cougars!
I would like to say GREAT JOB to Stephanie Brey and her
summer art students on the transformation of the big cat by the GCMS flag pole
into a beautiful GCMS Cougar statue! They are custom painting and selling
cougars of three different sizes in our Growlapalooza program. We
appreciate all of the local businesses and organizations that have purchased
the cougar statues already. This is made possible through our Cougar Zone
program. Melanie Manion and her staff have done a great job with the
students in all CZ programs this summer!
2013-2014 Daily Schedule:
I have attached a copy of our daily schedule for the new
school year. As you know, we will keeping the same six period schedule
(60 minute classes) for Monday-Thursday that we used last year. For
Fridays, we will be having six 55 minute classes plus a 30 minute advisory
class. Our increased emphasis on college and career readiness will be
emphasized in Friday CCR classes which replace last year’s super class
program. Just like last year, all core classes will meet every day,
Monday through Friday. Nancy and Leann have been hard at work on the new
schedule and should have it to share with teachers in the near future.
After that, I will send out a new lunch schedule to match the new master
schedule. Mr. Whitmore is working on the new duty schedule as well.
Suicide Prevention Training:
As you know, Kentucky teachers, administrators, and
counselors are required to have suicide prevention training each year.
GCMS will use the Jason Foundation modules again this year. Please go
online to www.jasonfoundation.com,
go to professional development, register, and complete training module 4 (we
have done 1, 2, and 3 the past three years). When you have successfully
completed the quiz, please print your certificate and return it to Mrs.
House. If you are new to GCMS this year, please complete module 1
instead. This needs to be completed by the end of August, but I wanted to
remind you now, in case you want to go ahead and do it this summer. We
are not allowed to grant PD credit for this training, so it is okay to complete
this during your planning periods after school starts. Classified staff
members are not required to complete this training, but you are welcome to if
you like.
Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (PGES):
Mr. Whitmore, Mrs. Miller, and I have completed 40 hours of
training and two 6 hour assessments this summer on the new PGES program.
This system will be piloted in each district in Kentucky this year (at Grayson
County High School for our district this school year) and will go into effect
statewide for the 2014-15 school year. I want our teachers to learn as
much as possible about the new system during this school year, getting your
feet wet so to speak, rather than jumping off in the deep end of the pool with
no “swimming lessons” the next year. We will work to provide you with
orientation and training throughout this school year, so that you are as ready
as possible when it goes statewide. The system features a big focus on
student and teacher engagement as well as measuring student growth.
PD 360:
Mr. Whitmore and I attended a session at GRREC this summer
to learn more about the PD-360 online professional development program. I
was impressed with the possibilities of PD360 and look forward to utilizing it
with our staff at GCMS.
Standards Based Grading:
Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Pearl are going to be working with
Teams 1 and 4 to implement standards based grading this school year. We
look forward to seeing how this progresses as we all know that we need to get
to the point that student progress is measured by mastery of content rather
than how many assignments are turned in. I appreciate these two teams
stepping up and expressing their desire to explore standards based grading as a
pilot for our school this year.
Financial Guideline Changes:
As some of you already know, the “Redbook” guidelines which
govern how schools can use activity funds have changed significantly this
year. We are no longer allowed to use activity funds to buy items such as
food, gifts, shirts, gift certificates for our staff. We are going to try
to get creative and still do some things to show appreciation for our staff,
but we want you to understand that this will be a little different from what
you are used to. Our SBDMC is dedicated to protecting instructional funds
but has agreed to be flexible with 920X general funds, and this will help.
Restraint and Seclusion Training:
New state law requires all school staff, certified and
classified, to have restraint and seclusion training each year. This can
be counted as part of professional development requirements. GCMS will
have this training for all GCMS on the afternoon of August 5, here at
GCMS.
Stop by and See Me:
If anyone would like to stop by and see me to discuss your
thoughts, questions, concerns, or great ideas for the new school year, I would
be glad to talk with you. My family is going on vacation next week, July
15-20, but I plan to work the rest of the month of July.
A Little Inspiration:
Here is a short video that I watched this morning. I
had actually seen it before, but I was impressed again with the simple message
of inspiration. It is worth your three minutes!
Quote of the Day:
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he
can learn in no other way.” ~Mark Twain
Coming Attractions:
July 16-18…………Sixth Sense Cougar Zone program for incoming 6th
graders, 7:30-3:00
July 26……………...New Teacher Breakfast, 8:30-12:00 at GCMS
July 30………………PD for all GCMS teachers
Aug. 1………………Opening Day for all GCMS staff, 8:30-3:00
Aug. 1………………GCMS Back to School Open House, 4:00-6:00
Aug. 2………………CPR training for aides, 8-3; CPR training for
coaches, 5-7
Aug. 5………………District-wide Day, at GCMS (district meeting in
morning; GCMS PD for all staff classified and certified in
afternoon)
Aug. 6………………not a required day at GCMS
Aug. 7………………Students’ first day of school
Aug. 23…………….School Picture Day at GCMS
